


Ashes

by Control_Room



Series: Tortured Tales [30]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alice and the Acetone Machine, Bad Relationship, Domestic conflict, It is more general but gotta be safe (thumbs up), Kissing, Love, M/M, Marked as teen just in case, Sad, Shotgunning, Smoking, Unhealthy Relationships, a lot of different slang words for butt, cigarette, i will write fluff to make up for this later, its a bit uncomfortable, shotgun smoking, swap au, there is a whole dictionary, trying to make things work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29835795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Control_Room/pseuds/Control_Room
Summary: Trying to hold onto their relationship is like trying to hold onto smoke.Joey can't find his cigarettes.
Relationships: Joey Drew/Henry Stein
Series: Tortured Tales [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023520
Comments: 5
Kudos: 3





	Ashes

It did not take too long for Joey to realize that his pack of cigs was missing from where it belonged. With a frown, he pondered his options. As much as he hated having to ask Henry for anything, even though the man was, well, his boyfriend of a sort, it seemed like he was his only option at the moment. With a sigh, he shifted uncomfortably where he stood, rubbing his hands together in the cold. Henry’s (aggressive) take over of the studio had in a way facilitated their relationship, but Joey had lately found himself steering clear of the man, and it always felt like he was walking on broken bottles of ink whenever he was around him. His avoidance only grew when Henry thought that it was because he had not yet been bedded by himself truly, but Joey denied that. 

Now to his frustration and anxiousness, his cigarettes were missing. They were his ticket to keeping away from meals with his partner, as awful as that sounded. He inhaled sharply, and made his way back inside. At least Henry was not making him clock out and in for every little thing he was doing. 

He knocked on the door to his- Henry’s- office, and he told him to come in. A wide smile bloomed over his face, and he said into the phone, “Oh, sorry, I gotta go, my fast worker’s here.”

He beckoned him over as he hung up, tugging him down by his bow tie to kiss his cheek. Joey blushed, looking off to the side. 

“You’re looking pale, my beaut,” Henry commented. He did not reply. “Come down here, doll, I’ll warm you up real quick.”

Joey cautiously sat on his lap as directed, and tried not to flinch when arms wrapped around him. Henry’s cigar was in his hands, and the smell wafted up to his nose. It relaxed him, reminding him of those better days. 

“You’ve been playing keep away with me, lately,” he murmured against his shoulder. Joey fought off the tension that snapped through him, yet failed to-- something Henry noticed and did not like. “So. I’m expecting that you came here just to ask me for something. Go ahead, ask away.”

“Henry, I’m-”

“No, don’t apologize,” Henry rebuffed, letting him go and putting his focus on his work. “I get it. You don’t like that I’m where you were. I know.”

“That’s not-” Joey got up, rubbing the back of his neck, “it’s co--”

“Complicated?” Henry asked, folding his arms with a cold expression. “Nah. You just resent me.”

“Henry, that’s not what it is, mi amor, please,” Joey’s brow furrowed and he reached towards him, unable to come all the way. “It…  _ is _ complicated. I’m sorry for avoiding you.”

“What did you come here for, Joey?” Henry inquired, his cigar smoldering. “I’m not going to get mad at you for whatever it is. I’m not out to get you.”

“I can’t find my cigarettes,” Joey mumbled. “So can you butt me?”

A sharp pain snapped over the base of his back, and his eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock as he realized what had just happened. 

“Why did you hit me!?” he yelped, rubbing his tush. Henry rose a brow, and replied, “You asked for it. As for your cigs, I took them.”

“W-what? Why?” Joey whined. 

“You should stop smoking,” the hippocratic doctor replied. “It’s not good for you. I’ve noticed you skipping meals and sleep and having those things in lieu.”

“You can’t just t-take them from me,” Joey complained. “I bought them with my own money, and I smoke them on my own time!”

“You can’t smoke anymore, Johan,” Henry waved off. Joey stared at the cigar in his mouth with a growing anger. Part of him knew that it was the withdrawal hitting him, but the other part could care less, and after all, Henry had slapped his backside, so this was fair pay. 

“Try to make me,” he challenged, snatching the roll from between the other’s lips. Henry seemed stunned for a minute, Joey inhaling the nicotine addled smoke with a smirk. He spotted Henry’s hand reaching, and he stepped away, still smoking. 

This time, he was a little more prepared for the sudden pain flaring up on his narsum, but it still shocked him nonetheless, and he stumbled forward, dropping the cigar practically into Henry’s hand. 

The man’s eyes were half lidded and his expression calm, but Joey knew the man better than that.

He wanted a fight. He wanted to make Joey break. He wanted to bend him over his knee and whip him until he would cry mother mercy. 

There was a way around that, Joey realized, that could end up with a much better outcome for the both of them, and maybe even their relationship. 

He pushed Henry, but not roughly, a gentle push to his office chair. Henry, not expecting the cool response, allowed it to happen, seated by his lover. 

Joey moved the cigar from his mouth, but by moving the other’s hand, allowing him to keep it and not tearing it from his grasp. Steeling himself, he inhaled briefly, and then kissed him. Henry let him, though did not reciprocate, utterly surprised.

“Er, Joey, you didn’t…  _ enjoy _ me hitting your baseburner, did you?” Henry asked when he moved away. Joey flushed and shook his head; Henry might have been a promiscuous person, but Joey was much less of one, if one at all. “Ah, just wanted to check--” 

Joey kissed him again, whining softly as he tried to get him to indulge him. Finally realizing what Joey wanted from him, Henry laughed, and took a drag of his cigar, and then pulled Joey close. The smoke was heavenly, and Henry’s brightening mood was even better. Joey made sure to put more effort into Henry’s mouth than the cigar’s relief. 

“I missed you, bad, baby,” Henry whispered into his ear, taking another puff on the cigar. He exhaled before their lips met entirely, some of the smoke curling up his cheeks and through his hair. “You’re so handsome, and you left me all alone, all cold in bed….”

“Didn’t mean to,” Joey sighed, eagerly accepting the cigar being put in his own mouth, but he stopped to continue his words, “I didn’t mean to get so nervous around you, Henry.”

“The way you walked in, you had such swagger,” Henry chuckled, “Almost like you were coming in to give me a piece of your mind. Your hips were planted at such a cute angle. Made me swoon.”

“Let’s have dinner together, tonight,” Joey suggested, kissing along Henry’s jaw and the corner of his eye. “It’s been a while since we’ve done something like that.”

“Oh, sounds good,” Henry hummed, pulling him back to his lips. This was great. Joey’s legs straddling him, seated on his knees, kissing and frenching-- maybe this was all he needed. “I’m sorry for hitting you earlier. I thought it might be a bit funny, when you used that word for cigs. Butting.”

“I did walk into that one, I’ll admit,” Joey shifted on Henry’s legs. “But please, don’t do it again. Unless, um,  _ you _ ‘enjoyed’ it, then we could talk about… something of the sort?”

Henry snorted, shaking his head. 

“I’ve got better kinks than that, Joey,” he winked, his hands settling on Joey’s okole. “But, mm, I can think of some mighty good dessert after dinner, if you’d be willing to give me a taste….”

Joey’s breath hitched. 

“Maybe,” he breathed, Henry coming close to kiss him again. 

After dinner, which was surprisingly pleasant with little to no backhand compliments from Henry, they made their way to the bedroom, a source of terror for Joey.

He need not have feared, as Henry instantly noticed his tension rebounding, and he only smiled at him, pulled him to the mattress, changing him into pajamas, and settled with him into bed, kissing him every few seconds until they were wrapped up in each other's arms once more. They held each other and whispered like teenage sweethearts until they fell asleep.

Joey stiffly woke up, his back aching from being crammed inside the Big Sins Confessional the whole ‘night’. His heart hurt, and he sighed melancholically as he pushed himself up.

Those good memories… made this painful journey all the harder.


End file.
